Higurashi: Alternate Universes
by ChiekoKawabe
Summary: Mion and her friends live in a small town, with very few people but a horrendous past. Oyashiro's curse strikes again and the gang must learn how to stop it.
1. New Beginning :: Chapter 1

I hopped onto my bike, speeding off down the dirt rode, passing tall grass, some farm houses, some old people, and very few young kids. I ended up passing Keiichi and stopped, staring at him and waving. "Hey, Keiichi! Over here!"

He laughed and flashed me a smile. "You know, you're late again." He started to walk towards me as he always did, his eyes warm and welcoming yet cold and mysterious. He always told us everything... as far as we knew.

Oh, you didn't know? By us, I meant me, Mion Sonozaki; Satoko; Rika; Rena; and Shion. Although, Shion doesn't hang out with us as often. Excluding Shion, we all attend a small school of only one class in Hinamizawa. Hinamizawa is a very small town, so small that they only have one class. That's just how little the amount of kids in school there are!

"I know, but hey, you should've waited, Keiichi!" I cleared a spot on the back of my bike and patted the seat, motioning for him to hop on to get a ride to school.

He walked over to me and began to throw his leg over the seat, then quickly pulled away and ran ahead. "Gotcha!" His laugh filled my ears once more; I laughed along with him.

"That's not very nice!" I got back onto my seat and pedaled towards him furiously to catch up, although it didn't take much time to.

A car passed by.

"Why won't you ride with me?" I questioned him, sticking my tongue out at him with a wide smile on my face.

"Eh. Have you forgotten? We walk to school with Rena." He continued to walk forward, seeming to not care much either way. He kicked a rock and it flew across the dirt road about seven yards ahead.

I passed it--along with him--with ease and eventually ended up next to Rena, who was waiting patiently. She held a boxed lunch wrapped nicely in her hands.

"Oh! Mion! That's a surprise. You're... here before Keiichi!"

As I slowed to a stop, Rena started to approach me. "Yeah, yeah."

"Let's wait for Keiichi, then!" Rena turned to the direction in which I had arrived from, staring as the sun rised. It was a beautiful sight; bright green grass, and every color on the spectrum spreading across the sky. She breathed in pleasantly, her lips curving into a peaceful smile.

In the distance, I saw Keiichi running towards us, panting and sweating, his jacket draped over his shoulders. I started to burst out laughing, then exclaimed, "It took ya long enough!"

"That wasn't funny, Mion!" He finally stood next to us, bent over and panting wildly, his hands on his knees. Then, steadily, he slowed his breathing and stood up straight. His eyes averted to Rena's form. "Oh, hey Rena!"

"Hi, Keiichi! Are you ready to go to school?"

He nodded, and stared at the bike. He noticed it could only hold two people, so he came to a conclusion. He told Rena to go with me and that he'd catch up to us.

"Do you think that Keiichi will be all right, Mion?" asked Rena, her arms tight around my stomach as she sat behind me, her body close to mine.

"Yeah, I'm sure he will be."

We arrived to the school and walked in, the kids running around until first period started. I took my seat next to Rena, and Satoko and Rika approached us.

"Hey! Good mornin', Mion, Rena!" Satoko spoke, her hands resting on her hips, her short, blond hair in its usual bob cut.

"Hi, Satoko! Hi, Rika!" Rena exclaimed and tucked her redhead hair behind her ears, then folded her hands in her lap. She scooted into her desk farther, her smile gleaming up at the two.

"Yeah! Hey!" My chin rested on my left hand, my elbows laying on the desk lazily. I yawned lightly and waited them to say something.

"Did you hear about what happened yes--" Keiichi busted in, and Rika instantly fell silent, turning and walking to her desk with an uncomfortable look upon her face.

"That's strange..." I chimed, then the teacher came in and asked us all to take a seat and take out our mathematics text books.

Keiichi dragged his desk in front of ours, ready to tutor us as he usually did. He opened to page 39, which was lesson three of chapter four.

"Why were you so late, Keiichi?" Rena asked him politely, her voice soft with curiosity.

"... Oh. I got... distracted." He looked up and stared Rena in the eyes, his face overtaken with an honest expression. Then his eyes slowly moved over to mine. "You're a year ahead of us! Why do you constantly need help?" He chuckled.

"So what?!" I reached over and flicked his nose, then pulled back immediately, ducking when he tried to pinch mine.

Rena let out a fit of giggles, covering her mouth and leaning her head forward.

"What's so funny?! I barely understand it myself!"

Class ended soon and Rika approached Rena and I. She had us come outside, and whispered to us as quietly as she could.

"Did you hear about the accident?"

I scratched my head lightly, tilting my head as I thought hard. Nothing came to mind.

"Nope," Rena and I said at the same time.

"Well, I heard that last week, there was another murder. Except, it's not time for the festival. The festival is a whole month away!" Rika spoke softly, a bit of panic risen in her words as she spoke. Then she gave a stare to Satoko, her dark blue bangs falling in her eyes.

Satoko nodded lightly, her face more serious than usual.

"What is it?" Rena asked hesitantly, and waited for a response, her eyes full of concern.

"Well... they found his neck broken. As if someone had murdered him." Satoko bit her lip, then added, "And his daughter, who also believed in the curse..." She paused as Keiichi came outside.

"A curse? What curse?" He approached us, coming between all of us and asking a strange question.

I blinked, Rena tilted her head, Satoko's eyes widened, and Rika shook her head.

"You don't know about the curse?" we all asked at once.

Keiichi put his hands on his hips, raising an eyebrow, and for a moment, I thought a smirk crossed his lips. But I blinked again and saw true curiosity.

"Well, a while ago, a dam was going to be built," I began.

"Yeah, and it would've put us all underwater..." Satoko followed suit.

Rena furrowed her eyebrows, but decided to help. "There were so many that were opposed against it! But there were also a few that wanted it to happen. Eventually, it was cancelled, but..."

"Oyashiro decided to punish those who believed that the dam was a good thing. That it should've happened," Rika added.

"And, so, every year at the Cotton Drifting Festival, he takes a life that believed it was good, and spirits away a person that knew them," a voice, similar to my own, finished the story.

"Shion!" I stared at the girl that finished the story.

She was identical to me in every physical way: our hair both green and big, our skin color pale, even our hips and bust the same size. If that wasn't enough clues, then I'll put it bluntly. She's my twin sister, named Shion Sonozaki.

Keiichi stared at the girl. "Ah, Mion!... Shion! Who are you?" He shook his head and dismissed his own question, deciding not to get into it. He sighed. "So... is that curse true?"

I coughed abruptedly. "Yeah, it's true! Anyway, I have to go."

"Yeah, me too." Rena waved and walked off.

"Uh huh. Bye, Keiichi!" Satoko dragged Rika off, and they soon disappeared behind tall grass.

Shion smiled and waved, walking with me, and I heard Keiichi speak to himself:

"That's... weird."

I turned my head back, watching Keiichi following after Rena, since their homes were both in the same direction.


	2. The New Girl :: Chapter 2

I rose from bed and yawned, stretching my arms far above my head and stretching out the cramps in my bed bones. I heard a few cracks. "Ah... Another day of school!"

Rubbing my eyes and leaving my room, I ran to the basement to pick up some clothes. I had forgotten to put them out the night before. I reached the bottom of the stairs.

"That's strange... I don't see anyone up."

I grabbed my uniform and turned around, and was faced with a tall figure that held an axe. I dropped my uniform and dashed to the other end of the basement, the figure calmly chasing after me. Soon, I found the stairs again and rushed up them, running through the house and out the door.

That was the last time anyone would see me.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Keiichi? Have you seen Mion?"

I turned my head and looked up at the girl who asked the question. It was Rika, a girl with long, blue hair and bangs.

"Nope, haven't seen her since yesterday. I hope she's not sick or something."

I leaned farther into the conversation, their words lingering in my ears, and I smirked.

"Class! It's time to begin!" The teacher walked in, ordering us all to calm down and sit, to work our hardest and do our best.

"Check one... complete." I laughed abruptedly, and a few classmates stared over my way for a few moments before going back to their own business and completing their work. I leaned my head down into my arms and and chuckled quietly to myself.

"Nagisa?"

"Mmn...?" I sat up, staring at a girl before me. She had blond hair, cut short to the end of her neck with nice bangs to top it off. She wasn't too tall, and appeared a little older than me.

She pulled out the chair next to me and took a seat in it, pressing her cold hand to my forehead. "You seem to have a fever. . . What were you doing yesterday?"

"Eh? Nothing, really. Just preparing... dinner."

"Oh, I see. Maybe you should go to the nurse's office." She stood and walked over to the teacher, explaining my 'situation' and then walking back over to me.

"The teacher told me to tell you to go to the nurse's. Want me to go with you?"

I leaped out of the chair, nodding and walking out of the classroom and to the nurse's office. I was the tallest of my class; a whopping five feet, ten inches!

Despite that, most didn't notice me in class. I was the outcast because my cousins believed that the dam was a good thing. I didn't care either way; all I wanted to do was leave Hinamizawa. It was boring, unpopulated, and besides rolling around with spiders, mud, and farming tools, there wasn't much to do. Lots of old people, and not enough people my age. My parents had died recently, as well, so I lived alone. I wouldn't've been able to make a living in my hometown, Osaka, because I was only eleven years old. Not many jobs get handed out to kids my age.

The nurse snapped in my face, and I stared up at her. I was guessing that she wanted me to listen to her, rather than my thoughts. "Yes?"

"You came to me. Is something wrong, hun? You don't look so good."

"They said I had a fever and sent me here? Sorry, I'm not sure myself." I let out a soft yawn and laid down on the nurse's bed. I snuggled up to it.

"Looks like you just need to rest some. Here, I'll take your temperature."

She handed me a thermometer, the older versions that were used mostly in the 1950's, rather than the electronic ones from my home town.

I sighed and she took it from my mouth. "It reads 101.8."

"Oh." I stepped from the bed, waving and turning to leave the room with a few thank-you's but she grabbed my shoulder.

"Whoa, there, little missy. You've got some resting to do. You're running a high fever and you look like you're in a daze. I'll get you some water, but you better be laying right there when I get back."

Blinking and watching the nurse as she left, I took a seat on the bed and curled into the wall to keep warm. I thought to myself that I should probably listen to her, since she seemed like a tough lady.

"I'm going to be late for my job..."

"Late? For a job?" The nurse slipped back inside, closing the door behind her. She handed me the glass of water she promised me, and sat confidently in her working chair. Her arms folded under her chest. "Why do you have a job?"

"Because of the accident."

She looked confused. "Accident?"

"... Did you hear about the man who was murdered recently?"

"Yes, I have."

"Well, he was my father. I came here on a business trip with him. My mother died of cancer a few months ago, and I was living with her up until her death. When she was gone, my dad was pretty much the only person I had left to live with. He was always traveling though, and he came here to settle some issues with the builders of the dam." I breathed in heavily.

I saw her scratch her head and she looked confused. "Really? Was your father a supporter of the dam?"

"Yes. In fact, he was the man who proposed the idea. It caused my parents to split up, though, because my mom had originally lived here in Hinamizawa, and loved it to bits. She didn't want to see the village flooded."

"I see..."

"Regardless, a few days after he came, they found him in the river, his neck shattered and torn."

I laughed slightly and turned my head away from her, tears flowing out of my eyes before I could even stop them.

"So you have to work because no one's there to support you, right?" She patted my back and I cried even more.

"Yes," I said brokenly, my voice cracking under the pressure. I felt her form behind mine, hugging me tightly. It felt as if I had a mom again, and I liked it. "Thank you..."

"It's all right, sweetie."

I wiped my eyes, and stared up at the nurse.

"What is it?"

"I want to leave Hinamizawa. I'm scared of the curse. I'm scared I'll be spirited away. They said that someone who knows him will be spirited away. But I'm the only family he has left! The only person he knew..."

"Don't worry, darling, you'll be just fine." She smiled.

"That's what I've been hoping..."

I turned from the woman once more, curling up on the bed and falling into a deep sleep, my tears slowly dissolving...


End file.
